By Our Correspondent
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced each of the five suspects arrested on May 31, 2026, by the Department of State Services (DSS) for their involvement in the November 21, 2025 attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, to 25 years imprisonment.
Justice Binta Nyako handed the sentence on Thursday shortly after the five men, including two Nigeriens, pleaded guilty to all four terrorism-related charges pressed against them.
The charges bordered on support for the commission of an act of terrorism, breaching both Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, as well as the Firearms Act.
In Count One, they were accused of jointly conspiring to render assistance to a terrorist by agreeing and intentionally playing various roles towards conveying 15 AK 103 rifles as well as about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from Diffa region, Republic of Niger to one Malam Ahmad, a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu, Niger State, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The five men were arrested at different locations by DSS operatives less than two weeks ago.
In one of the arrests, DSS operatives recovered 15 AK-47s and 1,434 rounds of live ammunition tucked in sacks in a Volkswagen Golf car.
The recovered arms and ammunition were tendered in court.
The court ordered the forfeiture of the Golf car to the Nigerian government.
Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles had in the wee hours of November 21, 2025, stormed the Catholic Primary and Secondary Boarding School, kidnapping schoolchildren and teachers at gunpoint.
While about 50 of the children managed to escape in the chaos that greeted the attack, the gunmen reportedly marched over 250 of the students for days into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest.
The incident generated widespread anger and concern over the rising insecurity in the country.
Following attacks and abductions by gunmen and suspected terrorists, President Bola Tinubu on November 26, 2025, declared a nationwide security emergency.
He also ordered additional recruitment into the Nigerian Armed Forces and the police force, while authorising the DSS to immediately deploy all the forest guards already trained to flush out the terrorists and bandits lurking in forests.
After slightly over a month after the attack, the Federal Government and Niger State officials confirmed the rescue and safe return of the remaining captives, with officials stating that not a single pupil remained in captivity.
